Lisa Eldridge - Professional Make up Artist

I'm going to be travelling in a couple of days, so I won't have much time to post anything new... but before I go, for all the girls (or guys) who wear makeup, I wanted to talk about Lisa Eldridge.  Lisa is a professional make up artist with 21 years experience. She has become one of the most highly regarded make up artists among supermodels, celebrities, and magazine editors. She is in high demand within beauty and fashion circuits internationally.  I had subscribed to her youtube channel a few months ago, and her videos include tutorials ranging from natural to creative/dramatic looks; as well as tips/tricks/advice.  All her explanations are extremely clear, and I found every single one of her videos very helpful!   She is not a youtube partner, and so she has relied on word of mouth to get almost 37 thousand subscribers!



She has many pages where you can follow her:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/lisaeldridgedotcom
Twitter - http://twitter.com/lisa_eldridge
Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/user/lisaeldridgedotcom
Mailing list on her blog - http://www.lisaeldridge.com/elist/

At the moment, she is doing a give away for everyone who is following her:

The Phantom of the Opera

I was first introduced to the story of the Phantom of the Opera when I was very young.  We had a recorded VHS tape of the 1990 TV miniseries version, and I loved it!  There have been many adaptations of the novel "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra" by french writer Gaston Leroux, but the only story I was familiar with was from the TV miniseries.  In this version, the plot focused on the Phantom's childhood and past while showing him in a gentler and kinder light as compared to other adaptations and the novel.  Also, unlike the other movies, we never see the Phantom's face as he is always hidden behind his various masks.  This version starred Charles Dance as the Phantom/Erik and Teri Polo as Christine.  What I also liked about this film were the comedic scenes they included every now and then.

Oh, and I recently found the entire miniseries on youtube!!  Go to CompleteMovies4U 's channel :)

I have also seen Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2004 musical film, starring Gerard Butler as the Phantom and Emmy Rossum as Christine.   Being an adaptation of the Webber's 1986 musical, it was more focused on the singing and performances rather than the Phantom's history... but I also enjoyed it; mostly because I love Emmy Rossum's voice.  On the other hand, I felt Gerard Butler's singing could have been stronger and more operatic... overall it was very entertaining!

I hope to read the original novel, when/if I find it....

Sweet Potato Balls (pronounced "bAAwls") recipe

Made these for thanksgiving, and they were sooo good... I may have made them bigger than they were supposed to be... Oh well!

Ingredients:

·         3 cups peeled and chopped sweet potatoes

·         ¾ cup brown sugar

·         ¼ cup butter, softened

·         2 tablespoons milk

·         ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest

·         ¼ teaspoon salt

·         8 large marshamallows

·         ½ cup crushed cornflake cereal

1.       Preheat oven to 325F

2.       Greast 9x13 inch baking dish

3.       Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water for 15 mins

4.       Drain and mash with sugar, butter, milk, lemon zest, and salt

5.       Shape mixture into 8 balls with marshmallow in centre of each

6.       Roll in cereal crumbs and place in dish

7.       Bake for 20 mins (until mash mallows begin to ooze)

Ellen's Bathroom Concert Series

Ellen singing with Jennifer Hudson.... in the bathroom... my favourite!

Piano solo: "Time To Say Goodbye" - Francesco Sartori

Time to Say Goodbye (Con te partiro) by composer Francesco Sartori

Marshmallow Crispy Squares recipe

Here's the recipe!  It's very simple -  you only need 3 ingredients:

 45g butter

 300g mini marshmallows

 180g Rice Krispies

Melt the butter in a large pan, on low heat

 Add marshmallows and stir constantly until melted

 Take pan off heat, and immediately add cereal.  Mix lightly until well coated

 Place in tin.  Let cool completely before cutting.

* Since we couldn't wait until they had completely cooled to attack, I buttered the plate before placing the squares on it so that the marshmallow doesn't stick! 

Until tomorrow...

I didn't have time to create a post, for both yesterday and today... too much studying!  So until tomorrow's (where I will post the recipe for some marshmallow crispy squares that I'll be making) , here's a couple of videos that are really funny!

First is a clip from the Fresh Prince of Belair comedy (and it's not of Carlton dancing lol):




Second is a video of Jimmy Fallon's impressions on AGT:

Piano Solo ("All I Ask Of You" by Andrew Lloyd Webber)

Piano solo of the song 'All I Ask of You', from Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" :)

Hand Dancing

This video became very popular recently.  From two professional Irish Dancers, this youtube video was uploaded onto their own channel (youtube.com/user/upandoverit).   They choreographed an entire hand dance to the song We No Speak Americano!  It took them 5 days to come up with the choreography, and 5 days to practice the dance -- did you know that Irish dancers usually learn to practice using their hands first, to imitate the movement of their feet?  :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It's already December! Yay!! We're going home for Christmas, so we don't have a big tree in our apartment, but we did decorate it a little bit...

and my huge christmas mug :)